It Gets Even Better

by Isabela Oliveira

  — Jamie Perrault

  Thank you for all the people (myself included) you’ve inspired to be who they are!

  — Léon Othenin-Girard

  Being unapologetically queer is revolutionary. Never forget that.

  — D. Ann

  He waka eke noa!

  — JLand

  May this book bring you hope.

  I am delighted that these stories are available and have been published. Things have come a long way from when the queer representation you could find in the big bookstores and libraries was riddled with hostile stereotypes. I think the speculative fiction of the future will continue to find ways to get necessary queer stories into the hands of readers. There’s so much more out there to explore. Onward, to the future!

  — Silver Adept

  Everything is a queer thing!

  — <3 Murray

  Those who write new futures breathe life into all of us. Love to the creators.

  — RK Popkin

  Thank you to every Queer storyteller who shares their universes with us.

  — H. E. Casson

  Kamimakuna, “Praise the Sun!”

  We are everywhere. You are not alone.

  — Ray Lardie

  “In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold / Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand-fold / We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old / For the union makes us strong.” — Ralph Chaplin, “Solidarity Forever”

  — JC Cat

  For the Indian queer kids out there, it does get better. <3

  — V.R.

  Sometimes people expect a lot from us when all we want to do is just be. If your highest goal is just existing, you’re doing great, be you, enjoy it.

  — Alannah O

  The futures we write about where being queer is so normal that people don’t think twice? Someday, those futures will be here. Until then, keep writing, keep hoping, and keep dreaming. It WILL get better.

  — Alessandor Earnest, the Imp of Editing

  When you transition, try to mold your ideas about your transition around hope for the future and not fear. Unforeseen things will happen, but it’s better to move forward with a positive frame of mind if you can.

  — Lily Morgan

  Stars often don’t see the light they emit. Two things are easier to give than receive: love, and hope. May we share them widely, and set ourselves the goal of accepting them.

  — Emile H.

  It’s okay to NOT KNOW. Figuring out who you are and how you feel is hard. People who are questioning are all welcome.

  — Amanda DeLand

  This is for my childhood self, who didn’t know queer was an option; my current self, who is so delighted for representation; my future self, who certainly has more to discover; and for my child, who will one day be old enough to read this book too.

  — Pyrrh

  “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” — Bayard Rustin. I am incredibly proud and so full of love for my enby descendent, half of the team behind this anthology and an angelic troublemaker from the day they were born. May you all unfurl your wings with joy, and make good trouble every day of your lives! Love,

  — Jed’s Mom

  Understand one another for the better.

  — N.K.Q. Thomasson

  Your stories are worth telling.

  — Lydia Rogue

  The future is ours: everything is going to be okay.

  — Morgan Pasquier

  Tomorrow belongs to the people who show up. I’ll see you there.

  — Spider B. Perry

  I don’t know who’s reading this or when they’re reading it, but I know it will eventually land in the hands of someone who needs to hear this, so here goes. The most important thing to take from these stories, and other works of queer speculative fiction, is that, no matter how outlandish or fantastical the technology gets, no matter how impossible it feels, there is one part that is absolutely, irrevocably true, and that is the depiction of a future for our community. Queerness is a beautiful and complex narrative, one that stretches on forever in both directions. Just as we have a past, we have a future, and I believe it is a bright one. So read these stories, and enjoy a look to the future — laser guns and spaceships optional.

  — Susan Mesler-Evans

  You have made it to this point in your life. This beautiful, messy, imperfect, wonderful, amazing point. So keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.

  — Rory

  Hell or high water, we will absolutely create the world of our dreams.

  — Candace Hudert

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  Isabela Oliveira has been a professional editor for years, from technical documents to pop culture content. While attending college, she kept busy as the poetry editor and later the editor-in-chief of her university’s literary journal, the Salmon Creek Journal. Isabela started speaking on panels at fan conventions in 2016 and has been at it ever since. These days, she’s working as an editor by day, and an occasional podcast co-host, a crafter and maker, and an aspiring voice actress in her free time.

  Jed Sabin is a jack-of-all-trades with professional experience as an editor, writer, scientist, project coordinator, and logistics manager. At age 17 (before Kickstarter existed!) they successfully crowdfunded and produced a geeky pin-up calendar that was featured on Neil Gaiman’s blog. They were editor-in-chief of their college student newspaper, and they worked as an editor on the popular Kickstarter-funded Maze of Games puzzle novel. Their writing has been published by Daily Science Fiction and Wired Magazine.

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  Our heartfelt thanks to the village of talented creatives who contributed to this project; to Christy Maggio and Katje Sabin for valuable advice in the early planning stages; to Charles Payseur, dave ring, the Mermaids Monthly crew, and everyone else who enthusiastically promoted and supported the funding campaign on social media; to Bogi Takács for eir giant list of queer specfic anthologies, which was a treasure trove of inspiration and education for us; to Gretchen Treu and Hayley T. for their generous time and expertise; to our librarian friends for their feedback; to our cultural consultants for the essential work they do; to all the incredible authors who submitted stories to this project; to all our campaign backers, including those who chose not to have their names listed in the book; and most of all to RB and V, for bringing us water and making things possible.